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I installed Windows 10 first and after that Windows 7. Now I want to delete both the Windows installations and then install Windows 10 in such a way that I don't lose any data in other partitions. Also, I am seeing some recovery partitions and an EFI partition. I don't know anything about them. How can I install Windows 10 cleanly without any data loss?
This image shows disk partitions info:
Rahul Jain
Posted 2016-04-27T17:38:40.350
Reputation: 101
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Do not delete EFI System partition (it contains boot files)!
Do not delete Recovery partitions unless you know what they contain (to which Windows version they belong). Your Recovery partitions are not that big (450 MB + 800 MB). You can find out to which Windows installation they belong over the link/element "RecoverySequence" of corresponding Windows 7/10 loader. For viewing BCD objects/loaders and its elements you can use Visual BCD Editor. If you need some basic BCD knowledge - short BCD introduction.
After the first installation of Windows 10 to a computer and its activation you can clean install Windows 10 to same computer to a new partition without problems (it will be activated automatically).
You should save your user files(documents, pictures) to an external USB (for example) before deleting partitions and before new installation of Windows 10 just for safety.
As you have EFI/UEFI firmware (and GPT styled hard disk) be careful when booting Windows 10 installation media - you have to choose UEFI way of booting - select "USB ... UEFI" or "DVD ... UEFI" device from boot menu!
snayob
Posted 2016-04-27T17:38:40.350
Reputation: 4 044
Boot to your favorite partition manager. Delete the Windows partitions, delete Windows recovery partitions, then boot your installation disk and install Windows. The recovery partitions are not required for Windows to function. – Ramhound – 2016-05-04T18:09:34.983